Many known antennas, such as phased array antennas (PAA's), use electronic beam steering control for pointing the antennas and communicating with satellites. Such antennas are often mounted on mobile platforms such as ships, trains, buses, and aircraft. Typically, current designs rely on centralized inertial navigation systems (INS) located in a central equipment bay of the mobile platform for positioning and controlling a beam pointing angle of the antenna. For example, antenna receiving units monitor the strength of an electromagnetic signal received from a target satellite and use power tracking to close the steering control loop. Antennas that transmit only typically operate utilizing open loop electronic beam steering to point the antenna based on computations by the INS.
Generally, the update rate for such antenna beam pointing controls is relatively slow, for example below 100 Hz. Due to the inherently long latency of such antenna control systems, communication links with the target satellite can be interrupted by unexpected movement of the mobile platform. Typically, if the mobile platform turns more than 20°/sec in any direction, the communication link will be at least temporarily interrupted. For example, large ships may have antenna equipment mounted on top of tall masts. Relative motions between the ship, the masts and rough sea presents problems for beam pointing using current beam steering systems. As another example, fast moving land vehicles often maneuver in trenched and bumpy terrain. Traversing such terrain could cause an antenna mounted to the top of the vehicle to move and change pointing directions more than 20° in several different directions within a very short period of time. In additions, extremely fast and nimble aircraft, such as the F-18, can make drastic course and orientation adjustments. Current antenna steering system struggle to adjust, i.e. correct, the beam pointing angle of an antenna to continuously maintain a satellite communication link during such drastic and quick movements of the antenna.
Furthermore, the expense and mass of a large, slow responding INS based system hinders its use on private or commercial mobile platforms, e.g. small aircraft, cars or trucks, in which passengers would benefit from a robust communication link for such things as Internet access.
Therefore, it is desirable to implement an antenna steering system and method that will continuously adjust the beam pointing angle of an antenna that is subject to rapid and relatively large movements within a large range of pointing angles. More particularly, such a preferred system and method would maintain an uninterrupted communication link with a satellite regardless of the frequency and magnitude of changes in the geolocation and/or orientation of the antenna.